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Hop On Pop
House, Mouse! Hop, Pop! Cup, Pup! Learning about words that rhyme has never been more fun - simply change the first letter and the whole word changes!
By combining the funniest stories, craziest creatures and zaniest pictures with his unique blend of rhyme, rhythm and repetition, Dr. Seuss helps children of all ages and abilities learn to read.
By combining the funniest stories, craziest creatures and zaniest pictures with his unique blend of rhyme, rhythm and repetition, Dr. Seuss helps children of all ages and abilities learn to read.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
About the author
Dr. Seuss
816 books17.7k followersTheodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catchphrase "Quick, Henry, the Flit!"
In 1936 on the way to a vacation in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.
During World War II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.
In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published The Cat in the Hat , which went on to instant success.
In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham . Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet.
Helen Palmer Geisel died in 1967. Theodor Geisel married Audrey Stone Diamond in 1968. Theodor Seuss Geisel died 24 September 1991.
Also worked under the pen name: Theo Le Sieg
In 1936 on the way to a vacation in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.
During World War II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.
In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published The Cat in the Hat , which went on to instant success.
In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham . Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet.
Helen Palmer Geisel died in 1967. Theodor Geisel married Audrey Stone Diamond in 1968. Theodor Seuss Geisel died 24 September 1991.
Also worked under the pen name: Theo Le Sieg
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,596 reviews
May 25, 2018
Call me old fashioned but I think that there is far too much pop hopping going on in America these days. It's disgusting, revolting, quite possibly illegal, and then they turn around and turn it into a children's book? What's next? Leaving two unsupervised children alone with a giant cat? An elephant wedging an egg in his butt? Non-traditionally colored eggs and pork products? A Christmas-thieving scallywag? A fox wearing human undergarments? Oobleck? That just has to be filthy. Where does it end?
January 16, 2020
Hop On Pop, Dr. Seuss
The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use. It contains several short poems about a variety of characters, and is designed to introduce basic phonics concepts to children. Perfect for babies and toddlers.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1984 میلادی
عنوان: هوپ آن پوپ؛ نویسنده: تئودور زئوس گایزل؛
ایشان (دکتر زئوس) بیش از شصت کتاب منتشر کرده است، که مشهورترین کتابهایش، اثری بود بنام «گربهٔ کلاه به سر» است که بیش از ده میلیون نسخه فروش داشته، بیشتر کتابهای ایشان تخیلی و شعرگونه بود. معروفترین کتابهای ایشان با عنوانهای: «تخم مرغ‌های سبز و گوشت (1960 میلادی)»، «گربه کلاه به سر (1957 میلادی)»، «یک ماهی دو ماهی ماهی قرمز ماهی آبی»، «هورتون تخم می‌گذارد»، «هورتون صدایی می‌شنود (1950 میلادی)» و «چطور گرینچ کریسمس را دزدید (1957 میلادی)» می‌باشد. ا. شربیانی
The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use. It contains several short poems about a variety of characters, and is designed to introduce basic phonics concepts to children. Perfect for babies and toddlers.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1984 میلادی
عنوان: هوپ آن پوپ؛ نویسنده: تئودور زئوس گایزل؛
ایشان (دکتر زئوس) بیش از شصت کتاب منتشر کرده است، که مشهورترین کتابهایش، اثری بود بنام «گربهٔ کلاه به سر» است که بیش از ده میلیون نسخه فروش داشته، بیشتر کتابهای ایشان تخیلی و شعرگونه بود. معروفترین کتابهای ایشان با عنوانهای: «تخم مرغ‌های سبز و گوشت (1960 میلادی)»، «گربه کلاه به سر (1957 میلادی)»، «یک ماهی دو ماهی ماهی قرمز ماهی آبی»، «هورتون تخم می‌گذارد»، «هورتون صدایی می‌شنود (1950 میلادی)» و «چطور گرینچ کریسمس را دزدید (1957 میلادی)» می‌باشد. ا. شربیانی
October 8, 2020
" Mr. BROWN Mrs. BROWN
Mr. Brown upside down.
Pup up. Brown down.
Pup is down. Where is Brown?
WHERE IS BROWN? THERE IS BROWN!
Mr. Brown is out of town. "
Dr. Seuss injects the wordplay enthusiasm into the bloodstream. Ageless and timeless.
May 3, 2012
It just didn't do it for me--no character development, no irony, no existential angst, it was almost like a children's book.
June 29, 2023
Hop on Pop is War and Peace distilled for kids. It is epic in scope, range of characters, and depth of truth. Although a short book, with a few words to each page, I found it impossible to shut for good. This is one to revisit again and again as I have since reading it when a child.
Open it anywhere. Beginnings and endings are conventions. The real world revolves as life evolves. That motion is hammered home in its rhythm. And silliness.
Its message, too, is simple. Yet, very wise. Whatever you feel, when you feel it, is fine. Pleasure or anger. You can play or fight. It's all part of being human and living your life.
Open it anywhere. Beginnings and endings are conventions. The real world revolves as life evolves. That motion is hammered home in its rhythm. And silliness.
Its message, too, is simple. Yet, very wise. Whatever you feel, when you feel it, is fine. Pleasure or anger. You can play or fight. It's all part of being human and living your life.
Read
June 27, 2023Read this to my two year old nephew yesterday and he was mesmerized. I’ve never seen him so tuned in to a book before. 💚
June 10, 2023
I never encountered Dr. Seuss during my childhood in Germany (and I also do have to wonder whether Dr. Seuss' delightfully fun and often song like poetry would work all that well in translation, and actually in any type of translation). But I do indeed vividly and with very fond nostalgia recall repeatedly and joyfully using his, using Dr. Seuss' 1963 board book Hop on Pop (which I had found in the school library) in 1976, in grade four, to practice English language prepositions and basic present and past tense verb forms (after having immigrated to Canada from Germany with my family) and indeed finding Hop on Pop a lot more fun, a lot more engaging and above all also a lot more prepositions and basic English grammar retaining than the bone dry and tedious work sheets that my homeroom teacher kept shoving at me (ha, ha, and notice the propositional phrase at me) and how Mrs. Hopkins was both annoyed with and aghast at me preferring Dr. Seuss and Hop on Pop to her boring grammar worksheets, as according to both my teacher (and unfortunately also according to my parents), a ten year old should not be reading ANY board books, period (neither for pleasure nor for learning purposes). But well, I say absolute and total utter BS to and for that kind of an attitude, to and for board books supposedly only ever being suitable and useable for younger readers (toddlers), and indeed, when I was teaching ESL classes for adults at the college/university level (about a decade ago), Hop on Pop in particular was really and massively popular with my ALL of my students, we had loads and loads of fun with the book and that the chanting of the entire class reciting Hop on Pop together really did help my students to retain the prepositions Dr. Seuss textually features (up, on, in, off, after) and that following a preposition, one needs to use an object and not a subject pronoun (him, her, me instead of he, she, I). And while Hop on Pop might not present an actual plot with a beginning, a middle and an end, Dr. Seuss poetically celebrating with Hop on Pop word sounds, basic prepositions and verb forms and tenses, this is fun, a delightful, a totally wonderful and creative, marvellous language learning tool, and most definitely shiningly and glowingly five stars.
And just to say to and for the IGNORAMUSES who have over the years repeatedly tried to get Hop on Pop censored and banned, removed from school and public library shelves because it supposedly encourages violence against fathers I really must ask them they are functionally or deliberately illiterate. For honestly, Dr. Seuss makes it textually very clear that hopping on Pop is NOT acceptable behaviour (and even in grade four, with my very limited English language skills, I immediately knew that Hop on Pop does not promote and encourage children being violent towards their fathers but very clearly points out that jumping, that hopping on one's father is not condoned, is unacceptable behaviour). I mean, it is frankly and sadly totally ridiculous and laughable that in 2014, some obviously unhinged and braindead Torontonians not only wanted Hop on Pop removed from the Toronto Public Library but also were demanding that the TPL write an apology to ALL Toronto fathers (and while the challenge was unsuccessful, it should also and obviously never have even been considered and taken seriously in the first place, as the book banners right from square one so to speak admitted that they had NOT read Hop on Pop and wanted the book banned and censored just because of the book title).
And just to say to and for the IGNORAMUSES who have over the years repeatedly tried to get Hop on Pop censored and banned, removed from school and public library shelves because it supposedly encourages violence against fathers I really must ask them they are functionally or deliberately illiterate. For honestly, Dr. Seuss makes it textually very clear that hopping on Pop is NOT acceptable behaviour (and even in grade four, with my very limited English language skills, I immediately knew that Hop on Pop does not promote and encourage children being violent towards their fathers but very clearly points out that jumping, that hopping on one's father is not condoned, is unacceptable behaviour). I mean, it is frankly and sadly totally ridiculous and laughable that in 2014, some obviously unhinged and braindead Torontonians not only wanted Hop on Pop removed from the Toronto Public Library but also were demanding that the TPL write an apology to ALL Toronto fathers (and while the challenge was unsuccessful, it should also and obviously never have even been considered and taken seriously in the first place, as the book banners right from square one so to speak admitted that they had NOT read Hop on Pop and wanted the book banned and censored just because of the book title).
April 24, 2020
بازی با کلمات جالبی داشت. تو اینستاگرام با صدای مارتین فریمن دیدم و شنیدم. دلچسب و بامزه بود :))
بعد‌نوشت: رفتم مجدد نگاه کردم. عالیه 😂
بعد‌نوشت: رفتم مجدد نگاه کردم. عالیه 😂
September 26, 2022
I wanted to read this book, to understand, why this book is being challenged to be banned at public schools and their libraries. Parents want this particular book kept away from their children. For the life of me, I find nothing wrong or disturbing about it. It is a typical Dr. Seuss book, where youngsters who are learning to read, can sound out easy words, become familiar with them and then be proud to read simple sentences all on their own.
The words are rhyming words, such as, brown and down, black and snack, hop, pop and stop, walk and talk, song and long, etcetera etcetera. You get the idea, without naming every rhyming word in the book. There are no bad words, no sexual content, so what am I missing?
Parents who find this book disturbing have the right to keep their children from reading it. However, those same parents do not have the right to make their decision for other children. My kids are all grown and my grandchildren are teenagers now; but, if they were 1st, 2nd, 3rd graders, I would not have a problem allowing them to pick this book from the school library to read.
I would definitely fight for the freedom of reading this book in schools and their libraries. If anyone, who reads this review, can give me some kind of explanation on why this book is deemed bad for children, I’d be happy to hear it.
The words are rhyming words, such as, brown and down, black and snack, hop, pop and stop, walk and talk, song and long, etcetera etcetera. You get the idea, without naming every rhyming word in the book. There are no bad words, no sexual content, so what am I missing?
Parents who find this book disturbing have the right to keep their children from reading it. However, those same parents do not have the right to make their decision for other children. My kids are all grown and my grandchildren are teenagers now; but, if they were 1st, 2nd, 3rd graders, I would not have a problem allowing them to pick this book from the school library to read.
I would definitely fight for the freedom of reading this book in schools and their libraries. If anyone, who reads this review, can give me some kind of explanation on why this book is deemed bad for children, I’d be happy to hear it.
September 14, 2008
At first I thought it was really sad the way the children showed such a great amount of disrespect for their father. It seems today many children "Hop on Pop" as well as mothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even friends in a desperate attempt to get attention in a world where so many children are ignored. As I read on, it became clear that it was not "teen angst" or "rebellion" that caused them to "Hop on Pop", but an effort to feel loved and spend quality time with dad. I would recommend "Hop on Pop" to any father who may be having intimacy issues with their children. It is not only a fun read, but very inspirational.
September 17, 2007
I am currently reading this book. And I'll be reading it again in 5 minutes. And 10 minutes after that. It is my daughter's favorite book. A special thanks to Dr. Seuss for making this book tolerable to read over and over.
November 14, 2008
Full of three letter words in a unique and visually practical graphical format Hop on Pop takes the reader through several humerous story about creatures whose actions are characterized by simple phonetically repetitious words.
Hop on Pop was different from any of the other phonics readers I looked at. To begin with the story makes sense. We immediately like the characters whose expressions show an astounding range of emotion. Best of all Suess uses vocabulary an emerging reader can sound out independently.
I haven't read this book in a while. Today I realized I've never fully appreciated the genius behind changing only the beginning consonant. An emerging reader can work on one letter changes while confidently following up with the second half of the word which repeats over and over. "Cup Pup, Pup in cup, Pup cup, cup on pup." Even better, the formatting puts words on top of each other so the reader can see exactly where the word is changing and where it is staying the same. The illustrations perfectly describe the text and the books can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. If I have to sit through a phonics reader please make it Dr. Seuss. Recommended for children 3-7.
I can see this book has been reviewed by both the School Library Media Quarterly (A.A.S.L.) and Library Journal but they must be very old reviews because I couldn't find them.
1)
Hop on Pop was different from any of the other phonics readers I looked at. To begin with the story makes sense. We immediately like the characters whose expressions show an astounding range of emotion. Best of all Suess uses vocabulary an emerging reader can sound out independently.
I haven't read this book in a while. Today I realized I've never fully appreciated the genius behind changing only the beginning consonant. An emerging reader can work on one letter changes while confidently following up with the second half of the word which repeats over and over. "Cup Pup, Pup in cup, Pup cup, cup on pup." Even better, the formatting puts words on top of each other so the reader can see exactly where the word is changing and where it is staying the same. The illustrations perfectly describe the text and the books can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. If I have to sit through a phonics reader please make it Dr. Seuss. Recommended for children 3-7.
I can see this book has been reviewed by both the School Library Media Quarterly (A.A.S.L.) and Library Journal but they must be very old reviews because I couldn't find them.
1)
September 2, 2020
I used this book when teaching all five of my kids to read. It's so great for that, and also it's just fun with great illustrations and lots of silliness. The super large text makes it really easy for kids to see how one letter changes words like mad, bad, dad, etc. We'd read it often at bedtime and sometimes I'd use a hand to cover the beginning letters of some of the words to show how the ends all had the same sounds. This is one of those books that helps reading just click without tedious phonics lessons.
June 25, 2007
Why I hate theis wonderful book.
“HOP ON POP”
by Gerard C. Smith
Come "Hop on Pop," my Lisa said
And hop of course is what she did
Her brother joined in with a jump
On Poppa’s tum he went crash-bump
Lisa hopped and hopped some more
She knocked poor Poppa to the floor
Both kids did bounce, each up and down
Poor Pop was trounced and he did frown
Now he hates that bastard T. Geisel
And hopes the rotter roasts in hell
“HOP ON POP”
by Gerard C. Smith
Come "Hop on Pop," my Lisa said
And hop of course is what she did
Her brother joined in with a jump
On Poppa’s tum he went crash-bump
Lisa hopped and hopped some more
She knocked poor Poppa to the floor
Both kids did bounce, each up and down
Poor Pop was trounced and he did frown
Now he hates that bastard T. Geisel
And hopes the rotter roasts in hell
April 22, 2008
An ambitious exploration of social dexterity, "Hop on Pop" may be the most important book of our time. Rather than viewing Pop-hopping as rude or cruel, Seuss argues that it is a delightful, possibly necessary act.
"Hop on Pop" is the most important, timely book you will ever read. Now excuse me, I've got to find my Pop.
"Hop on Pop" is the most important, timely book you will ever read. Now excuse me, I've got to find my Pop.
October 9, 2021
This book with beautiful pictures is very useful for children who are learning English.
October 16, 2008
I love this book and I have read it several times. My favorite character is Will Hill, he is the one who goes up the hill. For some reason the author felt compelled to rhyme line after line, but I will not whine because this book is so very fine. There is danger- when the people playing ball fall off of the wall and when they fight all night, and there are some adult themes like when Red, Ned, Ted and Ed are in bed and when Mr. Black leaves his wife for Mr. Brown. Otherwise it is a wholesome read, though it does drag on a bit as you get past page 57 where Will Hill is the focus.
September 1, 2007
I have a funny story about a friend and this book.
A friend of mine told me that in 8th grade she was assigned the task of writing a book report. My friend noted that the teacher said nothing about the length or level of the book and took full advantage. She chose Hop on Pop. The best part is that she made her book report about parental abuse....
A friend of mine told me that in 8th grade she was assigned the task of writing a book report. My friend noted that the teacher said nothing about the length or level of the book and took full advantage. She chose Hop on Pop. The best part is that she made her book report about parental abuse....
August 31, 2016
You really can't go wrong with Dr. Seuss. Well, that is, unless you're trying to read this book full of tongue-twisting phrases to your infant daughter.
Luckily she won't remember that Daddy didn't do well the first time out -- and that was only on the abridged version of the book!
If you want a book to enjoy being utterly silly with your kids with, this is it.
Luckily she won't remember that Daddy didn't do well the first time out -- and that was only on the abridged version of the book!
If you want a book to enjoy being utterly silly with your kids with, this is it.
April 20, 2023
I caught my son reading this book. I thought urban gangster rap hip hop music was playing in the other room! To my surprise, it was Dr. Seuss! It sounded like my son (2 years old) was in a gang or something. Really disappointing Dr. Seuss would write this rhyming filth. I thought he was one of the good ones (unlike that Shel Silverstein)!
January 20, 2022
La principal razón por la cual leo estos libritos es por que tengo que practicar mi inglés, y aparte de ayudarme me entretienen mucho :)
February 26, 2017
Who doesn't love Dr. Seuss? This is the first book I ever bought and read to my daughter. And she loved it. This book, and owning a dog, probably taught her the word "pup." And it certainly taught her to hop on pop. I know, the book tells you to not hop on pop. But kids don't understand negatives until later. And it's so much more fun to hop on pop anyway.
July 5, 2013
If There's A Wocket in My Pocket was full of made-up words for rhyme's sake, Hop On Pop is full of couplings for rhymes sake. The first pages go:
"UP PUP
Pup is up.
CUP PUP
Pup in cup.
PUP CUP
Cup on pup."
It pretty much follows that format all the way through, and I have to say, they aren't the easiest rhymes to say! Some of them are absolute tongue twisters, which I think was deliberate.
What's cool about it is how it's a grammar book in disguise. The kids I read this too are young toddlers, busy constructing simple sentences and learning vocabulary and prepositions, so this is quite timely I think. It shows all the different combinations - paired with Seuss's trademark lively illustrations - that you can make with a couple of simple words.
Things happen, too. Like the ball players who fall off the wall, or little Jim biting the creature's tail, or Pat the bear sitting on a cat - and then a cactus. And of course there's Pop (father? Grandfather? It's an old-fashioned word that I feel the need to explain every time!), whose two little kids (or grandkids) are jumping on like a trampoline and he gets very angry. The kids - mine, not the ones in the book - find this all very fascinating, quite funny and ask a lot of questions. All of which makes for a great book!
"UP PUP
Pup is up.
CUP PUP
Pup in cup.
PUP CUP
Cup on pup."
It pretty much follows that format all the way through, and I have to say, they aren't the easiest rhymes to say! Some of them are absolute tongue twisters, which I think was deliberate.
What's cool about it is how it's a grammar book in disguise. The kids I read this too are young toddlers, busy constructing simple sentences and learning vocabulary and prepositions, so this is quite timely I think. It shows all the different combinations - paired with Seuss's trademark lively illustrations - that you can make with a couple of simple words.
Things happen, too. Like the ball players who fall off the wall, or little Jim biting the creature's tail, or Pat the bear sitting on a cat - and then a cactus. And of course there's Pop (father? Grandfather? It's an old-fashioned word that I feel the need to explain every time!), whose two little kids (or grandkids) are jumping on like a trampoline and he gets very angry. The kids - mine, not the ones in the book - find this all very fascinating, quite funny and ask a lot of questions. All of which makes for a great book!
May 23, 2008
"The simplest Seuss for youngest use". Indeed. Most illustrations come in pairs with the punch-line in the second one. Gotta love a book that shows a kid aggressively biting a tiger's tail or two kids hitting one another in the head with tennis racquets. The man is a genius.
September 2, 2020
This is one of Dr Seuss' simpler books. It is perfect to share with babies and toddlers but also great for those learning to read independently. The simple rhymes make it easier for them to figure out the words they are reading.
Definitely one for the bookcase.
Definitely one for the bookcase.
February 12, 2023
Counting as a book as I finished a collection of 10 books of beginner Dr Seuss books but it’s not on Goodreads.
January 26, 2013
Sometimes fiction follows a logic of its own. Sometimes this fictional logic explains the world in clearer terms than a purely “realistic” story ever could. Sometimes an author subtly injects metaphor into a narrative to illustrate a point, but occasionally the entire narrative is itself metaphorical. Take, for example, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka in which the protagonist wakes up one morning to discover he has been turn into a big cockroach. This is not realism. If we reject the story because we do not believe such a scenario could occur in the real world, we are missing the point.
Strangely, this concept is one that adults struggle with but children accept as natural. If, in a child’s book, a cat talks it is accepted without comment. A child is a perfect reader! A child knows full well that cats do not talk – but a child instinctively knows that this is irrelevant to the truth that the book is using the talking cat to illustrate.
Let’s look at Hop on Pop, by Dr. Seuss. There are several impossibilities that occur over the books’ sixty-four pages; A mouse carries a house on it’s back and fish laze about in a tree. Do we worry that this book is teaching our young incorrect facts about the nature of mice and fish? Do we furthermore fret that this book is teaching our children to jump on their elders? We do not. Children are smart enough to distinguish between what is real and what is not. They allow a fish in a tree to exist in order to learn the concept of “in” as it relates to the fish and the tree. The fish and the tree are entertaining distracters (red herrings, if you will) that allow the child to enter a playful state of mind where learning can be achieved.
Why, as adults, do we stop reading like children? Why do some of us demand our fiction to be “believable” – that is without a taint of implausibility? All books define their own rules of existence – if we limit ourselves to realism in the belief that truth is found only there, then we are like children who will not learn the difference between up and down because we know that dogs don’t drive cars.
Strangely, this concept is one that adults struggle with but children accept as natural. If, in a child’s book, a cat talks it is accepted without comment. A child is a perfect reader! A child knows full well that cats do not talk – but a child instinctively knows that this is irrelevant to the truth that the book is using the talking cat to illustrate.
Let’s look at Hop on Pop, by Dr. Seuss. There are several impossibilities that occur over the books’ sixty-four pages; A mouse carries a house on it’s back and fish laze about in a tree. Do we worry that this book is teaching our young incorrect facts about the nature of mice and fish? Do we furthermore fret that this book is teaching our children to jump on their elders? We do not. Children are smart enough to distinguish between what is real and what is not. They allow a fish in a tree to exist in order to learn the concept of “in” as it relates to the fish and the tree. The fish and the tree are entertaining distracters (red herrings, if you will) that allow the child to enter a playful state of mind where learning can be achieved.
Why, as adults, do we stop reading like children? Why do some of us demand our fiction to be “believable” – that is without a taint of implausibility? All books define their own rules of existence – if we limit ourselves to realism in the belief that truth is found only there, then we are like children who will not learn the difference between up and down because we know that dogs don’t drive cars.
February 24, 2013
This was my favorite Dr. Seuss book when I was a child.
March 10, 2014
this is a great way to teach English for children and foreign learners .
January 16, 2016
OH I loved it... GREAT ^-^
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,596 reviews